Cgi-tastic!

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2013)

The thing about a movie like this is, we all want to see the big robots fight the big monsters. Simple as that. The downside is, you have to suffer all the boring drama bits between the action to get there.
I've never understood why it is so many directors feel they have to have some tedious love interest in action flicks, it just totally takes the edge of the tension. Then we have the really nerdy and half crazy scientist types who, while portrayed as seemingly brilliant in their field, come across as almost insane. Has anyone ever seen a scientist behave like this? I mean in the real world? Nope, me neither, but it seems movieland feels that's how we should see them all. It's bloody irritating if you ask me. And Pacific Rim has its very own who really bugged me while on screen. Please can we have some normal scientists in these kind of movies please? Although given the plots are so outrageous maybe that just wouldn't work so well.
Anyway, getting to the action. It's good. It's really good, although sometimes it's a little hard to make out what's going on during the close-up fighting. Among horror fans, CGI is hated, as we love the day's of olde with lashings of fake blood and latex, but without the runaway developments of CGI it would be impossible to make a film like this. I reckon Pacific Rim is the ultimate demonstration of the top end of where we are right now in computer based effects. What you see on screen is truly stunning, moreso the big manmade battle machines than the monsters I must say.
I enjoyed the movie a lot. It's maybe a little over-long with those slow drama scenes, but the onslaught of the mega battles certainly makes up for that. Good stuff then, for something so big and hollywoodesque.